May 2012

Microsoft says raid damaged cybercrime operation

Microsoft and the banking industry provided a detailed, behind-the-scenes account of an operation they said disrupted a major cybercrime operation that used malicious software to allegedly steal $100 million from consumers over the last five years.

A senior attorney from Microsoft's digital crimes unit, Richard Boscovich, said the companies used a creative legal strategy as part of a civil lawsuit that targeted a network of computers suffering from an infection known as "Zeus." Those computers were under the remote control of a criminal group that stole personal information, financial credentials and money. The Zeus network has not been eliminated, Boscovich said, but the action has made it much more difficult and expensive for the criminals to operate.

Comcast Profit Exceeds Estimates on Broadband Additions

Comcast, the largest U.S. cable company, topped profit and sales estimates in the first quarter after gaining broadband customers and curbing video-subscriber losses.

Net income rose 30 percent to $1.22 billion, or 45 cents a share, compared with $943 million, or 34 cents, a year. Analysts had projected 42 cents. Comcast added 439,000 broadband subscribers in the quarter, topping the 382,000 average estimate of 11 analysts’ projections compiled by Bloomberg. The gain helped mitigate a decline of 37,000 in video customers. At least two analysts anticipated Comcast would increase the number of cable-TV subscribers for the first time since 2007. Comcast still managed to curb video customer losses from a year earlier, when it shed 39,000 cable-TV subscribers. It marked the sixth consecutive quarter Comcast has limited video losses. Comcast raised subscriber fees in the quarter to 62 percent for its customers, leading to some cancellations and an increase in average revenue per user, which jumped 7.8 percent to $143.40. The cable provider added a net of 164,000 phone customers, less than the 187,000 average analyst estimate.

Motorola Mobility Wins German Ruling on Windows, Xbox

Motorola Mobility Holdings won a patent ruling allowing it to ban Microsoft from selling its Windows 7, Internet Explorer and Media Player software and Xbox gaming systems in Germany.

In a case that prompted Microsoft to move its European logistics center to the Netherlands from Germany, the Mannheim Regional Court found the company violated patents related to industry standards for video compression. Last month, a U.S. court ordered Motorola Mobility not to enforce a ban if it won today’s ruling while a related dispute in Seattle is pending. The dispute involves technology known as “standard essential” set by industry groups that every company needs to use. Owners of standard essential patents are required to licenses them to competitors under fair and reasonable terms.

Tom Coburn: Apple tax dodge is rotten

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) said that he was “livid” about a New York Times report that described how tech giant Apple has legally evaded billions of dollars in corporate taxes each year.

“Absolutely, I’m livid about that,” he said of his frustration with Apple on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “First of all, we have a tax code. Why should Apple pay at 10 percent and some other company that can’t export their technology… why are they paying 35 percent?” he said. “What’s happening to us right now on our system is everybody that’s really successful worldwide is keeping their capital out of here and that capital is being invested somewhere other than America.” Sen Coburn also said that he will work with Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), a senior member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, to study tax havens.

Amazon cuts sales tax deals with states, not feds

Amazon may have just upended Congress — to the chagrin of those pushing for a federal online sales tax bill. The online retail company inked deals with Texas and Nevada to begin collecting sales taxes on purchases. The company has brokered seven such agreements in recent months while bills to standardize collection of Internet sales taxes nationwide are mired in politics on Capitol Hill. That puts lobbyists and others who have been fighting for a federal bill in a quandary: If the biggest states begin to see sales tax revenue from Amazon’s collections, is it still worth the money and effort to get a federal bill passed?

NBC Will Stream The London Olympics Live — But Only To TV Subscribers

For the 2012 London Games, NBC plans to stream video of all 302 Olympic events, allowing online viewers to choose what they want to watch. Fans will have options for watching broad highlights, or following one discipline's events.

Sports Business Daily media reporter John Ourand says he is shocked it has taken this long for the network to put live video of all Olympic events online. "I'm surprised it didn't happen four years ago, or even eight years ago," Ourand said. NBC will also release apps to allow live video and other features on tablets and smartphones. It's a far cry from the years the network spent cloistering the most popular events into a prime-time package that aired hours later. But that doesn't mean NBC will be giving open access to just anyone who wants to watch the Olympics online. To get full access, you must be a cable or satellite subscriber. And you'll need a user ID and password from your TV provider to log in, according to a guide posted last week on NBC's video site.

Target to stop carrying Amazon Kindle hardware due to 'conflict of interest'?

Since Target stores began selling Amazon's Kindle line back in 2010, the devices have always appeared to do well; the Kindle Fire was even the retailer's best-selling tablet during Black Friday last year. It appears that's about to change, however, with a source telling us that the company is going to stop carrying the line of products due to a "conflict of interest." According to an internal Target memo we've received, the company will be removing Amazon hardware from its locations starting this month. Certain accessories will remain in stock, but shipments of Kindles themselves will cease as of May 13th. As of this writing, it's unclear what the nature of the cited conflict of interest is, but it should be noted that Apple recently partnered with the retailer for a small number of "mini-stores" earlier this year. Whether the Kindle move is related — or has implications for Target's own e-reader ambitions — still remains to be seen.

FCC delays Verizon bid for spectrum from cable firms

The Federal Communications Commission delayed its review of Verizon’s $3.6 billion bid for airwaves from cable companies, saying the investigation is being held back because the companies were late in submitting requested paperwork.

The delay, which appeared procedural, will stop what is known as an informal 180-days “shot clock” by three weeks, the FCC said in an order. On April 30, the companies told the FCC it would make documents searchable to the public, which would appease critics of the deal who have asked for access to corporate documents. “Assuming the adequacy of the current productions in response to the requests, we do not anticipate further extension of the 180-day period,” the FCC sad in its order.

Rupert Murdoch acknowledges News Corp. errors

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch sought to move beyond a damaging report from Parliament accusing him of "willful blindness" in failing to properly investigate allegations of phone hacking by one of his company's London-based tabloids.

Murdoch, in a message to News Corp.'s 50,000 employees, said the findings by the Culture, Media and Sport committee were "difficult to read" -- but afforded "an opportunity to reflect upon the mistakes we have made. "We have done the most difficult part, which has been to take a long, hard and honest look at our past mistakes," Murdoch wrote. "There is no easy way around this, but I am proud to say that we have been working hard to put things right." News Corp. issued a statement acknowledging the "hard truths" that emerged from the committee's investigation: that it had been "too slow and too defensive; and that some of our employees misled the Select Committee in 2009." But News Corp. took issue with some comments, which the company labeled "unjustified and highly partisan." This appeared to be a reference to an explosive line in the report that called Murdoch "not a fit person" to lead a major international company.

California Location Privacy bill moves to full Senate vote

Most of the California Location Privacy Bill to require a warrant to access location information from cellphones is moving on for consideration by the full Senate. What isn't moving forward is the section requiring wireless providers to produce a detailed report on the information they provide to government agencies. Senate Bill 1434, introduced by state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), was recently approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee with an amendment. Five members of the committee ultimately approved the bill, but not without some dissent. Three members accepted the bill in its entirety and two voted for it after the reporting requirement was removed. The bill is an amendment to the Penal Code, to clarify the use of this ubiquitous and near-constant data stream in our pockets. Truly, with internal GPS, our cellphones probably know more about our movements than even our loved ones.

Benton

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